Amir's voice

Amir's voice

1. Unreliable Narrator

   • Amir is a child when he experienced life with Hassan so, his feelings may not be the same as they are now.
   • His guilt may cloud his thoughts making him look like the bad guy in the play.
     • When he watches Hassan being raped he does not step in. At the time Amir was a young boy face with the terror of 3 older boys.
     • Hassan is always made to look innocent by Amir. In his mind he has never done anything worng but theis may be due to the guilt Amir feels.

2. Certain events last much longer than others- e.g. the rape scene. Compared to his years in America. This shows how Amir is scarred by the events of his childhood and they are imprinted in his mind.

   • Timing

3. When relating his childhood, in the chapters leading up to the attack on Hassan, he tends to use childlike language, for example, 'he never told on me' (p. 4

   • This shows how innocent he was at the time, and reminds us that Amir was only a child when the event occurred so we cannot blame him completely.
   • Amir's voice also changes at times of stress or anxiety, such as during his fight with Assef and while recovering afterwards. The sentence structure becomes hesitant and broken to reflect the fragmentation of Amir's mind
   • Language Style
   • When Amir talks about Sohrab's suicide attempt, his language switches to the present tense- to show urgency.
     • 'They won't let me in. I see them wheel him through a set of double doors and I follow'